The ambulance carrying the heart to Fortis hospital via the green corridor in Kolkata on Monday. (Express photo by Partha Paul) The ambulance carrying the heart to Fortis hospital via the green corridor in Kolkata on Monday. (Express photo by Partha Paul) A green corridor created in peak hours helped transport a harvested heart from Kolkata airport to a private hospital for a transplant covering a distance of 18 km in 18 minutes on Monday. The journey from Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport to Fortis Hospital in Anandapur usually takes an hour. The surgeons at Fortis hospital transplanted the heart of a 21-year-old man who was declared brain dead in Bengaluru into a 39-year-old patient from Jharkhand. According to an official at the hospital, the donor died in a road accident in Bengaluru on May 19. His parents then expressed their desire to donate his heart. Following this, the hospital authorities in Bengaluru immediately contacted Malhar Fortis Hospital in Chennai, but at that time there was no one in need for a transplant. Later, the authorities contacted Fortis Hospital in Kolkata and found that there was a patient, Dilchand Singh, suffering from Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), who needed urgent replacement. DCM occurs when the heart’s ability to pump blood is lessened. Singh was admitted to Fortis on Sunday. The transplant was possible after the blood group (A positive) of the deceased matched with Singh’s. On Monday morning, the harvested heart was flown in from Bengaluru to Kolkata and then transported to the hospital through the green corridor created by the state government and Kolkata traffic police. Hospital authorities thanked the government and traffic cops for their co-operation. Speaking to mediapersons at a press conference here, medical super of Fortis hospital Arafat Faisal said: “The heart was transported to the hospital from airport in 18 minutes. Thanks to the green corridor provided by the city police and the state administration. The harvested heart was flown in from Bengaluru to here. The heart was removed from the donor at 7 am (on Monday). After which a green corridor was created in Bengaluru and a flight from there took off at 8.35 am. The aircraft landed in Kolkata at 10:45 am. The recipient was admitted here yesterday and a decision for the transplant was taken. The patient had luck because his blood group matched with the donor.” Faisal said that it was the first heart transplant done in the entire eastern region. A team of 30 doctors performed the transplant, which took about three hours. Following the surgery, the patient is being kept under observation and his condition being monitored. For all the latest Kolkata News, download Indian Express App

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